22 April 2017

Lining their pockets instead of the roads at Barnet Council

Mr Mustard made formal representations on behalf of the car owner whose car is shown in the middle picture, viz:

The response was full of apology, although no detail:

Great, you are thinking? No, it isn't. Here is the informal challenge which was made almost two months prior to the formal representations:

They look familiar?

In response to that, this is what the council said:

So by some mysterious process the first challenge that was made was not acceptable but the second one was and we don't even know why. Surely the first challenge should have been accepted because many motorists would take the council at their word and pay up thinking they have no chance. Mr Mustard knows better and makes the identical challenge three times, twice to the council, where the process allows for that, and once to the independent tribunal.

Funnily enough today a member of the public has written to Mr Mustard in the same vein:

I recently appealed my third unfair parking penalty charge notice and when it went to the independent adjudicator, won all three cases. I feel very annoyed that three different parking councils, Camden, Barnet and Haringey all refused the first challenge and it looked like this was an automatic response without actually reading what I had written.

I feel very annoyed that there are people who will be unable to appeal and that Councils are raking up huge amounts of money in a way that feels very dishonest to me.

Barnet Council are concerned about their parlous reputation in parking. They could improve it by accepting challenges of merit at the first opportunity and not make the public jump through hoops all the way to the tribunal. They do this all the time to Mr Mustard but he is used to it and just ploughs on to the end.